Earthcare Energy seeks $5 million loan from Evansville

EVANSVILLE - Evansville City Council was given the first read Monday night on whether to provide a $5 million loan to Earthcare Energy, which announced it was opening a production plant here earlier this month.

Stephen Geldmacher of Earthcare, provided city council members with a half-hour presentation explaining how his company harnesses energy from continent-spanning natural gas lines as they reach local markets. Geldmacher's presentation explained the energy used to bring the gas to the Evansville "city port" normally is wasted as it enters smaller pipelines in the area. Earthcare Energy turbines will capture that energy and use it to provide it to industries.

The presentation yielded several questions from city council members yearning to learn more.

"I'm sorry, I just find this so fascinating," said Dan McGinn, First Ward Councilman.

Geldmacher said after the meeting the energy concept is both simple and better for the environment than coal-fired power plants that dot the region.

"We have power companies all over the place looking into our technology because with all of the federal mandates to spend millions of dollars on things like scrubbers for power plants, this is a far better, cleaner option," Geldmacher said after the meeting.

On March 2, Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke announced Earthcare would be setting up shop in 60,000 square feet of Park 41, the former Whirlpool plant off U.S. 41.

City Council members will receive the second and third reads for the $5 million loan during a March 26 committee meeting, and that will be followed with an actual vote.

During the announcement of Earthcare locating in Evansville, Winnecke announced the $5 million loan, and explained it would repaid at 1.5 percent interest over two years. The city will also pay for two years' worth of rent at Park 41.

State incentives include $1 million in tax credits and $160,000 in training grants, Winnecke said at the time, adding the company has committed to a profit-sharing agreement in which it will return $32 million to the city of Evansville over the next 15 years.